Zebras are tasty!

Being small and unaware of inappropriate ideas Chloe sometimes says thing that verge on serial killer.


Chloe -Daddy do people eat zebras?
Daddy - No Chloe, people don't usually eat zebras.
Chloe -   Well, if you killed a zebra, and shaved off all it's fur and cut up into pieces and cooked it...
It would be delicious!

At this point I stared pointedly at Karl and said to Chloe
"Where did you get that idea?"


We've decided to blame Little House Books and PBS.

Halloween

We had a lot of fun doing our Jack-o'Lanterns this year. Thanks to Sid the Science Kid Chloe is worried/fascinated by the idea of Frances (her pumpkin's name) decaying.

As we were leaving the house to go trick or treating I noticed a fellow Halloweenie coming round the corner. I went in to get some candy for them. The nice lady asked if Chloe was a Roller Derby Girl because she was also a Roller Derby Girl!!! One of our very own Demolition City Roller Derby Girls!

Hooray for Halloween!

Little Miss Firecracker

Eeek! a mouse...

Because Chloe uses our computer quite a bit we bought a smaller, more child friendly mouse for her to use. Apparently it takes a little getting used to. She came into the bedroom where I was reading and said:
"Mom, the mouse is stretching me out!"
Mommy - "Why baby?" (and yes, lips were twitching from trying not to laugh)
Chloe - "Because it's making me a little crazy!"
(More lip twitching from Mommy)
She then cups her hand around an imaginary mouse and moves it back and forth perfectly pantomiming controlling a mouse. Then she points off to the right of the imaginary computer screen and says in a slightly frantic voice:
"And the mouse stays right there!"

Fortunately Daddy was in the front room and I sent her off to have him fix the mouse that was "stretching" her out and I could laugh without hurting her feelings.

Fee, Fie, Fo, Fum!

Chloe-I'm gonna have to disappear that giant!"
Daddy -"To the woods?"
(Chloe often plays magician and makes things and us disappear to the woods. She always makes them [and us] undisappear when she's done.)
Chloe-"I'm going to disappear him to jail!"
Daddy-"To jail? Why?"
Chloe-"He's bad."
Daddy-"Bad? Why?"
Chloe-"'Cause he gave me a heart attack and you are not supposed to give little girls heart attacks!"

My herbivore wants a hamburger...

Mommy-"What are you doing Chloe?"
Chloe-"I'm feeding my giraffe. she mostly eats meat...and candy as a snack"
long pause
Chloe-"She likes to mostly eat mice and other insects...Are mice insects?"
Daddy-"No"
Chloe-"Are they bugs?"
Daddy-"No, they are small animals called rodents."
Chloe-"Well she mostly likes to eat dead mice. So I give her dead mice and say 'Eat your dead mice!' and she eats them."

Later on
Chloe-"I have to take my giraffe to the hospital."
...
Chloe-"The doctor says my giraffe needs to rest up"
Mommy-"Why?"
Chloe-"She's not feeling well...she ate too much"
Mommy-"Too many mice?"
Chloe-"No, too much meat."

Chloeisms from the babysitter.

We are lucky. Really lucky. We have to work (and I like to work aside from that) but it's hard to leave our amazing kid. Taking her to someone who genuinely loves and appreciates her makes it easier. Wub loves her weekday sitter Terie and her brood.

To prove a point, a week or two ago Terie had a family emergency and Wub spent the day with her cousin Andie and Andie's wonderous ginger haired boy. Although she had a great time, when we came to pick her up she cried a little because she wanted to see...that's right Terie.

Every day that we don't send Chloe off to big box daycare I am thrilled that I have the luxury of knowing that that she is being truly cared for.

Terie-Wouldn't it be funny if your name was Cock-a-doodle doo? Then everyone would call you Cock-a-doodle doo instead of Chloe.
Chloe-No it wouldn't.
Terie-Why not?
Chloe-Because I don't speak Spanish.
(and who can argue with that?)

Terie-What is the moon made of?
Chloe-Wood...glowing wood.
Terie-And how did it get there?
Chloe-The aliens made it.
(of course)

First Concert

We took her to see Bob Dylan. Which either makes us crazy or cool. Maybe both.

I was a little worried. Wub doesn't like loud noises and concerts are, well, usually pretty loud. I had a back up plan though. If she had freaked out I was going to have Erin come and get her.

Leon Russell opened. It was rollicking, bluesy, fun and funky and Wub responded by standing up on her seat, dancing around, waving her arms in the air and shouting things in my ear. (I never could catch what she was saying.)

All in all a good sign.

At intermission we got her a drink and waited for Mr. Zimmerman to take the stage. When the lights went down, we were positioned perfectly to watch Bob Dylan take the stage. I pointed him out to her as he was walking up the stage stairs.

Then they took the stage. Rainy Day Woman. Wub danced around happily. Yay! Then It's All Over Now Baby Blue a little less enthusiastic but still dancing...Things Have Changed....Why yes, they have. Wub climbed up on my lap and leaned her head on my shoulder. The song ended she looks up at me and says "Is it over now?"  "No."  "Are you kidding?"  "No baby I'm not."

This scene repeated itself after every song. "Is it over now?" "No." "Are you kidding?" "No baby I'm not." She never got out of hand and sat quietly on my lap through most of it. She just wanted to leave. Poor baby.

When the band left the stage she was visibly relieved.  "Is it over now?" "No." "Are you kidding?" "No baby I'm not."  and I tried to explain encore to her whilst clapping madly.
The band took the stage again and began to play Like a Rolling Stone. Wub perks up a little and bounces and claps a little. I'm happy because the concert is ending on a better note for her. Then, then, they start All Along the Watchtower. Wub Jumps up and begins to dance and bounce and clap enthusiastically. She is a joy filled happy baby and although I entertain vague fears of her falling down the bleachers, I'm thrilled that it's ending up this way. They finished up with Blowin' In the Wind. All in all a pretty amazing experience which she won't really remember.

Little Miss Firecracker

We had a very nice Fourth full of picnic foods and fireworks and one really cute dress.

She will either...

Roll her eyes and say.
"The very first concert my parents took me too was Bob Dylan"
Implication..."You see now why I am so screwed up?"

or...

Smile and say.
"The first concert I ever went to? My parents took  me to see Bob Dylan when I was three."
Implication..."Yes, I am a dork and so are my parents but still...pretty cool too."

I'm expecting the former but hoping for the latter.

From the mouths of babes...

Sunday morning I made Wub a reversible halter top to wear to Dad's memorial service. I put it on her and she immediately began tugging at the bottom ruffle.

Chloe-"Where's the rest of it?"
Mommy-"It's a shirt sweetheart. It doesn't have a skirt."
Chloe-(Still tugging at the rufflle.)"But where's the rest of it?'
Mommy-"Honey, I don't know what you mean. What rest of it?"
Chloe-"Where's the part that covers my belly button?"

I promptly explained to her that it was supposed to be short like that. She seemed mostly ok although I did see her tugging at it occasionally.

Later that evening I sewed up a super quick sun dress for her. When I tried it on her...

Mommy-"Do you like it?"
Chloe-"Yes it's very pretty..." Smooths down the front of the dress... "and it protects my belly"

Two, two, two posts in one!

What do you get when you take a perfectly toasted marshmallow and smoosh it between two chocolate digestives?

Mmmmmmmmmm, happy Wubby.

Daddy liked them too.

Now for the sewing...

I wanted to make Wub a maxi dress. I had this beautiful polka dotted batik fabric in 8 different colors and no clear plan of what to do with it. So....

 I used the red to make bias trim for the straps, the pink to make the bodice, orange lime, teal, blue and purple to form the tiers of the skirt and more red bias to finish the skirt. Visible in the next pic...

the brown I used for the bodice lining. I really think I'm going to stick with black to stitch in cme labels. I like it better though I don't hate the red for this.

I used the halter sundress from IndieTutes for the bodice. I know I've been going on and on about IndieTutes but there is a good reason for it. I did make one minor variation from the tutorial by topstitching all around the top edge. I just like the way it looked.                                               

I'm not 100% happy with the cme sprout tag placement. I lined it up straight with the orange strip but I should have aligned it to the bodice. It comes across a bit wonky.  But again, I don't hate either. The skirt is basically a twirl skirt of which there are roughly half a million tutorials out there for. I probably used a bit of all of them for the construction. For me a tutorial on gathering was the most helpful thing. Because I had a limited amount of fabric, I modified the normal formula of each tier being 1.5 times longer than the last and used 1.33 instead. (If you decide to try something like this you most likely won't have limitations like all of your fabric is in fat quarter form so you can just ignore that 1.33 if you want)

There are a few things I would do differently next time. I would remember at some point before the skirt was halfway constructed, that the seams from where I sewed the strips together really should have been zigzagged. I also will  most likely trim the seams where the skirt tiers come together just to remove some of the weight from the skirt. Very happy with it though.

And so was Wub.

The end...

P.S. When we were dyeing yarn to make dryer balls we made beautiful rainbow yarn which Chloe named Neighbours. This is a very neighbourly dress.



Chloe Quotes

Chloe-"Okay, we need to pretend we have a drawing desk..." Picks up her Magna-Doodle which she calls her drawing desk..."Okay we'll just have to pretend that this is a pretend drawing desk."

Chloe-"Okay, I'll be Goldilocks and you can be the seven bears."

Chloe-"Daddy you pretend to be the pretend daddy, Mommy you be the pretend mommy and I'll be the babysitter."

More Solar Dress

This is dress number three. I think I may make a different dress next time. Or not, I really like this one. I did make a few modifications to it though.

I seamed two fat quarters together, which is the perfect amount for the front and back of the size 2/3 dress.
I made my own bias tape (woot) for it using two videos on YouTube and another coordinating fat quarter.

The first video made me extremely happy because I was dreading all the fiddly seams. The second video was actually two parts and slightly more detailed. I sincerely doubt I would ever want to attempt the fiddly seam method now.


I folded and pressed the bias tape using the long pin/ironing board method. I have no idea where I saw that tutorial but it worked like a charm. From a 16 inch square, I had enough bias plus three whole extra inches to do the entire dress.

Which is why the shorts, made from one more fat quarter,  have different bias trim. (matches the pockets on the dress) You can also see our cme labels in this pic.

I made a few modifications to the original pattern. I added a pleated pocket, the design of which I am not 100% happy with but can definitely live with. It is nice and deep but I will make it wider next time. They are sort of lost on the side of the dress.

I also added shirring instead of the elastic. I like the way  it looks much better. My elastic was always a teensy bit wonky.

See how deep and roomy the pocket is? See how much to the side it is? Gotta fix that. 

 









And last but by no means least, Wub in her five fat quarters patchwork pretty Solar Dress with modification.

Tutorial Madness

I've had some brain power and energy this week. (I'm gonna credit physical therapy for that. I knew my leg bothered me I just didn't realise how much until it stopped.) So I've been sewing.

Vegbee from Indietutes shared this fantastic pattern (I've made two so far.) for the solar dress.

Being three years old Wub doesn't really get the concept of modesty. She's not quite "Wanna see my panties?" but she doesn't really care if you do see them either.
Off to Made for possibly the easiest (for me at least) pants tutorial in the world. Plus her pattern fits Wub perfectly. Now we have darling matching modesty shorts to go beneath.








 For the finishing touch what better accessory than knee high stockings...Do we own any knee high stockings? Noooooooooooooo. Can we make knee high stockings from outgrown tights? Yes, yes we can. Thanks to another great tutorial from Ruffles and Stuff


These are so flippin' cute I almost can't stand it.









 
Thank you everyone for sharing your wonderful creations and inspirations. Can't wait to make more stuff.

Been a while...

This is the absolutely wonderful dress I made for Wub today. Pattern courtesy of IndieTutes made from fabric we bought at Ikea in Liverpool. I am really pleased with it and her.

Wub is amazing right now. She totally cracks me up. She'll put on her Easter hat and ride like the wind! She calls it her "giddyap" hat. Her imaginary horses name? Fried Rice...

The darndest things...

Mommy-"We're going to the hospital to see Erin and baby Jude."

Chloe-(Worried voice)"Why is Erin's baby sick?" (You only go the hospital when you are sick.)

While opening gifts at her birthday party...

Chloe-"Best day, ever!" (Huge turn around from "I dont want to be three!")

Happy Birthday to Wubby

It's been interesting to say the least. The past few weeks Chloe has been very anxious about turning three and being a big girl. I firmly believe she thought her birthday would come and she'd shoot up three feet and have to get a job.

For the most part reassuring her has been futile. It did help when she discovered she would be getting gifts. I was still worried about how she would react when she woke up this morning since she was still protesting that she "Didn't want to be three! I wanna be two years old!"

I think we were both relieved when she woke up this morning, looked down at herself and realised no great transformation had occurred over night. "Am I three now?" "Yes, baby, you are."

Publish Post

With her charm bracelet. This year's charm was Lola of Charlie and Lola fame. 

The back is engraved "Love, Charlie and Marv"

 Her extremely, very yummy birthday cake.

Happy birthday Chloe Marah. I love you.

It's been a rough week. It's been a shaky hands, can't quite hold back the tears, endless stream of prayers, utterly exhausting week.

Sunday we decided to go for a drive and kerflump, the car makes an ominous noise and the steering goes heavy. Fortunately they were able to stabilize the shaft that held the timing belt pulley otherwise we would have needed a new engine/vehicle.

Monday brought a messed up printer, disrupted internet service and a blown computer at work.

Tuesday brought the news that my work computer was pretty much shot and the My Passport we use as a backup for both computers, meh that wasn't working either.

Wednesday morning Mom called to say she was going to the hospital by ambulance (going to the hospital is Mom's new hobby)

Then the nursing home called.

They were sending Dad to the hospital by ambulance.

Dad is in the hospital. For several days we weren't 100% sure what was wrong with him. Slurry words, mild hallucinations and a decided left sided slump would make you believe a stroke. Except a CAT scan and then an MRI were clear. He also has pneumonia, an urinary tract infection and C-dif (an intestinal infection) so it's possible that all the medication was causing some neurological issues.

Except that is a stroke. In his brain stem which doesn't show up on CAT scans and MRIs and the pneumonia's pretty bad. So we have played hospital tag. We've sat with Dad and held his hand and tried to figure out what he wants when he's talking. TV on. TV off. Covers up. Covers down. I'm thirsty. I'm tired. I'm hurting...

Today is the first day that I've actually been able to stop running and breathe. Today Dad is better. More alert. Breathing better. Less scared. Today hope hasn't seemed like a double edged sword waiting to cut the knot that's holding it all together and drop it all on our heads.

I don't know what's going to happen. I'm praying for the best even though right now I'm not sure what the best is.

Mom is still in the hospital but may get out tomorrow.

Oh and Amanda is also in the hospital...

Benjamin Harris Godwin
January 8, 2011 6:02 pm
9lbs 2oz  22 inches long



















Through all of it Karl has been amazing and I can never, ever, ever show how grateful and happy that I have him. I love  you Mr. Husband Man yes, I do.

Update Dad died the next day. One day before his 78th birthday. Cate called and said. "I don't know if you should come..."
In the scheme of things really what are you going to regret leaving work for something that turns out to be okay or missing the last moments you have with someone you love?

I was there and Cate and Lora and it was sad but okay. Just like a lot of things.